Gujarat Elections Live: Key Constituencies, Candidates To Watch Out For
The polling for the first phase of Gujarat elections began at 8am on Saturday. While this is a big fight between the Congress and the BJP and three key players-Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and Hardik Patel-are battling it out on the big scene. Here's a look at the key candidates to watch out for in Gujarat elections.
Name: Vijay Rupani
Party: BJP
Constituency: Rajkot West
The battle for BJP’s traditional fortress could be a cliffhanger since it’s high-profile contestant and Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani is facing a challenger in Congress’ Indranil Rajyaguru.
Name: Indranil Rajyaguru
Party: Congress
Constituency: Rajkot West
The Congress nominee declared assets worth Rs 141 crore in his election affidavit, making him the richest candidate this election. A sitting MLA from Rajkot east, he will fight his third election against Chief Minister Vijay Rupani from the BJP-RSS bastion of Rajkot West.
Name: Dr Nimaben Acharya
Party: BJP
Constituency: Bhuj
Among the prominent women candidates in the fray, Dr Nimaben Acharya is the incumbent MLA from Bhuj. A leading gynaecologist in Gandhidham town, she previously served on the Gujarat family planning council. She is also the pro-tem Speaker of the Gujarat assembly.
Name: Aadam Chaki
Party: Congress
Constituency: Bhuj
According to unofficial estimates, Bhuj assembly seat has a nearly 35% Muslim population. In Chaki, the Congress has a prominent Muslim leader who’s been at the forefront of filing PILs against the state government. One among them, is against the state government’s decision to hand over the management of a government hospital to the Adani group. He faces two criminal cases.
Name: Virendrasinh Jadeja
Party: BJP
Constituency: Mandvi
In order to maintain its four-decade-long winning streak in Mandvi, the BJP dropped sitting MLA Tarachand Chheda for the 51-year-old Rajput leader. Incidentally, Virendrasinh Jadeja belongs to the royal family of Bhavnagar and has served as Congress minister in past governments.
Name: Shaktisinh Gohil
Party: Congress
Constituency: Mandvi
Muslim-dominated Mandvi will witness a clash of the Rajputs. Rookie Virendrasinh Jadeja will go up against the national spokesperson of the All India Congress Committee, Shaktisinh Gohil. The Congress is banking on the Muslim, Dalit, Patidar combination to win, while the BJP is hoping to push its ‘vikas’ or development agenda to win the seat in the Kutch district.
Name: Babubhai Bokhiria
Party: BJP
Constituency: Porbandar
Water resources and agriculture minister in the Gujarat cabinet, Babubhai Bokhiria faces anti-incumbency in Porbandar. The fishermen or Kharva community here is unhappy with the lack of delivery by the state government in the last five years. Bokhiria goes up against the former leader of Opposition, Arju Modhwadia, and most voters say the candidates have a 50-50 chance of winning.
Name: Arjun Modhwadia
Party: Congress
Constituency: Porbandar
It will be a clash of the Titans in Porbandar, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi. This will be the third time senior Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia will clash against BJP’s Babu Bokhiria for the third time since 1998. Bokhiriya won Porbandar in 1998 and 2012, whereas Modhwadia won the seat in 2002.
Name: Mahesh Vasava
Party: Bhartiya Tribal Party
Constituency: Dediapada
Mahesh, who is the president of Bharatiya Tribal Party, also filed nomination from Dediapada in Narmada. He will take on sitting BJP MLA Motisinh Vasava, who won from the seat in 1990, 1995 and 2012. Mahesh had won the seat in 2002 on a JD(U) ticket, but subsequently lost in 2007.
Name: Chotu Vasava
Party: Bharatiya Tribal Party
Constituency: Jhagadia
Chhotu Vasava, a six-time MLA is a tribal satrap, whose vote gave Ahmed Patel a stunning victory over his BJP rival in the Rajya Sabha polls earlier in 2017. Being a hardcore supporter of former JD(U) president Sharad Yadav, he parted ways with Nitish and formed his own political outfit BTP ahead of the Gujarat polls. Vasava won Assembly elections for the first time in 1990 by forming Guj Adijati Vikas Party. He contested as an Independent in 1995, 1998 and 2002 Gujarat polls from the same seat. Later, Vasava joined hands with Nitish-led JD(U) and won 2007 and 2012 State elections on the ‘arrow’ symbol.
Name: Parshottam Solanki
Party: BJP
Constituency: Bhavnagar (Rural)
Parshottam Solanki has held on to his seat since 1998, and so confident he is of his victory that he has already made plans to launch his son Divyesh from here next time. Solanki faces six criminal cases and has been in the news for his alleged links to the Rs 400 crore fishing contracts scam. He was also among those indicted for his alleged role in the 1993 Mumbai riots by the Srikrishna Commission.
Name: Paresh Dhanani
Party: Congress
Constituency: Amreli
The Patidar-dominated constituency is all set for a face-off between two strong Patel candidates as farm issues take centre stage in the campaign discourse. Sitting Congress MLA Paresh Dhanani is pitted against BJP heavyweight Bavkubhai Undhad, the legislator from the nearby Lathi seat, who has been fielded from Amreli this time.
Name: Bavku Unghad
Party: BJP
Constituency: Amreli
A Kadva Patel, Bavku Unghad is set to take on Congress’ Leva Patel nominee Paresh Dhanani. The BJP has picked Unghad in the hope that he will be able to convert his hold over Kukav and Vadia Taluk (about 50% of the total geographical area of the seat) into votes. The Patel community in Amreli is primarily in the diamond polishing or textile sector. Agriculture is another important election issue as the farmers are unhappy with the minimum support price for groundnut and cotton.
